The use of wire rolling techniques to position wires on centers for subsequent termination to handle twisted pair wires in respect to bulk cable is taught in a number of U.S. Patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,891,013 and 3,871,072. U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,365 also teaches the spreading of wire conductors for the purpose of location for termination wherein there are grooves provided in a connector housing into which conductor wires are driven. U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,251 teaches a similar concept but uses a tool which rolls the wires into grooves.
Pertinent also is U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,509 which deals with a method of manufacturing an electrical interconnection assembly wherein wires are laid in grooves in a substrate tool, with the wires being subsequently transferred from the grooved element to terminals carried by an insulating support to form the assembly.
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 134,328 (Attorney Docket 13905) co-filed with the present application and assigned to the same assignee, there is taught the concept of using the rolling technique in conjunction with an element which is a structural member of the apparatus served by the harness made up of wires implanted in grooves in such structural element. In our copending application, the concept of using the structural element as a frame in conjunction with a tool having grooves which mate with grooves in the frame is taught in order to provide the ability to have free standing wires. The tool in that case is visualized as being mounted upon the wire laying jig upon which the frame is also mounted. There, rolling techniques are employed in conjunction with the loading of terminals and connectors and components, all related to an apparatus served by the structural element.
The present invention represents an improvement over the foregoing prior art in that it ensures an accurate and less costly technique of wire handling for harness making.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel method and apparatus for harness making which simplifies wire placement and lay-up. It is a further object to provide a novel and automation compatible technique and article which assists in the placement of wires into frames containing grooves and in conjunction with wire implantation. It is still a further object of the invention to provide wiring aides in the form of wire retainers and organizers which are compatible with existing wire handling equipment capable of measuring, cutting, stripping, and termination of multiple individual conductor wires. It is yet a further object to provide a method which simplifies the wire rolling mechanism in terms of size and cost, employing a novel method and frame apparatus.